Broadcasting the Need for Change: Students Spotlight Announcement Shortcomings
Morning announcements at (STHS) aim to keep students informed about school activities, events, and important updates. Lately, however, there has been days when announcements are not made or done so very quickly so students miss a few seconds of key info.
While some students haven’t noticed their absence, sometimes off and on communication has caused confusion for both staff and students when event details change.
“I feel less aware about what’s going on in the school,” said student Audri Lule, exemplifying how the missing information has impacted the student body.
Some students, like junior Jaylynn Arnold, see morning announcements as “a waste of time” that share “unnecessary” details. Yet she and others recognize their value for sharing truly important updates.
With flawed yet potentially useful announcements, students have started questioning how to improve communication around campus.
On the Friday before Thanksgiving break, Audri Lule proposed a solution that gained traction among her peers — conversion to centralized bulletin boards.
“People didn’t even know the pep rally on Wednesday got cancelled,” Audri told her friend Mari Viera, referring to the pep rally that was cancelled without wide notice in November.
This caused many like Audri to come up with ideas on how to change announcements and informing studnets.
Audri suggests placing visual bulletin boards in high traffic areas across campus. With details posted clearly in halls and around portables, students could easily stay updated without relying solely on morning announcements.
Audri further recommended only doing live verbal announcements once a week on Mondays. By offloading most updates to an engaging, centralized location, administrators could reduce their work while enhancing student awareness of activities. Bulletin boards would serve as an always-accessible reference that could boost event attendance and therefore school funding.
The proposal empowers students, with many eager to help design and manage boards showcasing academics, jobs, volunteer opportunities, and more. “If they let me, I 100% would be willing to help make the bulletin board in any way shape or form,” Audri pledged.
In fact, student-led efforts have already begun. To raise money for the school’s inaugural science fair, the science department created a crowdsourced fundraiser that students publicized through word-of-mouth and flyers around campus rather than announcements.
While Audri’s bulletin board proposal has garnered support among some students, it remains to be seen whether this idea will gain real traction. The request for changes to morning announcements has not yet been brought before the school administration or student council.
Without going through proper channels, the demand may fade as students move on to new concerns. Or the grassroots efforts may continue, showing the administration this issue truly resonates with the student body. Only time will tell whether the calls for updated announcements reflect authentic frustrations or merely temporary complaints.
For now, a bulletin board for announcements remains a mere idea among some students and, as far as we can tell, primary communication will continue to be done via morning announcements at STHS.
